What's Up With Buffy?
by slidifieds
Summary: An alternate ending to the episode 'Chosen.' Also part one of an ongoing saga known as the 'What's Up With' series.
1. What's up with Buffy?

An alternate ending to the BTVS episode 'Chosen.' I don't own any Buffy characters, they all belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. So there!

**What's Up With Buffy?**

"I'm not worried...as long as Willow can work her spell before they see us." And with that, a thousand Ubervamps marched in unison out of the Hellmouth's depths and up toward the Slayer and Potentials. Buffy peered over her shoulder, waiting for the magic to happen.

"Uh, guys?" To her horror, the Potentials weren't exactly being imbued with super girl power. Quite the opposite, in fact. The slayer watched with mouth agape while girl after girl fell down on one knee, gasping for air like something precious was being stolen from them. "Retreeaat!" Buffy yelled out as a hand grabbed her ankle and tried to drag her down to the pit below.

Faith also felt like she was losing power, and since she already had more than the Potentials to begin with, the effect knocked her completely unconscious. The last thing she felt before blacking out was her heart being hammered from the inside out. Her face fell down to the floor, and she wasn't even able to taste the Hellmouth dirt that flew in her mouth upon impact.

Spike, confused as to what was going on, tried his best to fight off the Ubervamps with a few punches and kicks ..but it was to no avail, there was too many of them. The souled vampire gazed across at Buffy, fingering the amulet and pressing it in hard against his chest. The two made eye contact for a meaningful second and she mouthed the words 'I love you.' Then, an Ubervamp tackled Spike from behind and began feasting.

Never one to give up hope, Buffy rolled over on her back and tried to kick the Ubervamp off that was pulling her down. Amazingly, not only did her shoe connect, it also penetrated right through the Ubervamp's strong-as-steel sternum, dusting the ugly bastard with no weapons involved! Buffy flipped up and before wondering what was going on, she decided to put her new found power to good use. The slayer effortlessly punched, backhanded and high kicked her way through hoards of Ubervamps, dusting them all easily with bare hands and legs.

However, Buffy wasn't able to slay everything despite her strangely enhanced slayer strength and the Ubervamps she couldn't get to began killing off ex-potentials left and right. There wasn't much to be seen except throat slashing, neck biting, and decapitating. A few Ubervamps even raped girls in the corners behind stalagmites. The young women were forced to watch their best friends get defiled, waiting patiently for their turn so they could hurry up and die already.

* * *

"Shouldn't they be coming by now?" Dawn asked Xander impatiently. She eyed her sword, hoping that she wouldn't have to use it and Xander and Anya's sun trap thingie would do all the work for them. True, Dawn whined about how she wanted to be in this fight but that was really just the stubborn inner teen talking. Honestly, she didn't know how she was going to fend off Ubervamps without any superpowers.

Xander shook his head. "Dunno Dawnster, but I wouldn't worry. Buffy knows what she's doing." He smiled and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

Dawn nodded, although it really wasn't Buffy that she was worried about. Something about this preemptive strike seemed too easy. If the First was indeed omniscient, you'd think there would be a traitor in the group. Or the First would be sending everything it got once it heard about Buffy's plan. There was no time to tell Xander her fears as it would seem, since an ex-potential began running at them down the hall. Vi. "Something went wrong with the spell!"

Dawn grimaced, not surprised. Watcher junior instincts right once again. An eyebrow was raised, signaling Vi to continue.

"I don't know what happened, exactly." Hot tears rolled down the girl's face, but she didn't bother to wipe them away. "It kinda feels like the spell is working for a second, but then…we're losing power. All around me, girls were being ripped apart. And Buffy… Oh God."

Xander shook his head, expecting to hear the worst. _You're my strength Xander_. For seven long years, the boy sacrificed himself to take care of Buffy. Even when she was being a bitch, even when she'd ignore him…. And especially when she danced with him to make a vampire jealous. He was always there. And two days ago, he finally heard what he wanted to hear all this time. That Buffy really cared. "Don't. Just don't, okay? We need to go to Willow. See what happened." Xander couldn't bear the thought that Buffy was dead. It was such a typical Sunnydale cliché, though. Two people finally connect and somebody in the relationship has to die. Not this time though. If Buffy was dead, he wouldn't hear about it.

Annoyed, Vi went after Xander and Dawn who began running toward the principal's office. "You don't understand! Buffy's not dead, she's…." Her voice trailed off. It was useless. They weren't listening and it wasn't long before Xander opened the door to the witch's room of mojo.

"Oh my God!" Dawn dropped her sword, totally oblivious to the clanking sound it made as it hit the tile.

* * *

The last fighter left standing, Buffy fended off the Ubervamps to the best of her ability. Not like it was all that difficult, since she could dust a whole lot of them with a basic punch or kick. After all the bodies of the ex-potentials lay littered on the ground, a few Ubervamps tried to crawl their way out of the Hellmouth and into the world the First wanted so much for them to rule.

The blonde rolled her eyes at the attempted retreat. If Angel had to use that second front, she'd never hear the end of it. He'd stick around with that puppy dog face, thinking she needed to be protected because she lost. No, she wasn't going to lose. Super Feminist Buffy ran as fast as she could to the spot where the Ubervamps were attempting to escape and pulled them down as if they were light as throw pillows. Poof, poof, poof. A few more Ubervamps tried to make their way towards the exit, but Buffy kicked off the wall and aerial roundhoused their heads off. She watched and smiled as three black clouds of dust surrounded her before sprinkling down to the floor. But it still wasn't enough. She needed more power. Her eyes shifted toward Spike's fallen body. The amulet.

* * *

Anya held up her sword, waiting impatiently for the Ubervamps to arrive so she could do her part and go back to having lots and lots of sex with Xander. "This is so like Buffy! I knew we weren't needed in this stupid apocalypse anyway. This is probably just one of her little stunts to show us how much better she thinks she is. Oh look at me, I effortlessly slayed a hundred Ubervamps without the assistance of any man-made weapons. Hah, I doubt even Buffy can do that." 

Andrew listened attentively to Anya, agreeing with everything she said with a quick nod of his head. He was just glad they didn't have to fight. "Soooo, you wanna play rock, paper scissors?"

* * *

Xander and Dawn's eyes were glued to a dead Kennedy with the slayer scythe protruding out of her spine. A small pool of blood had seeped underneath her. Vi was right behind Xander and Dawn, therefore noticing the murder shortly after them. 

It took Xander a little longer than Dawn to register Willow in the corner of the room with her head rested between her knees. Without looking down at the body, he ran toward his best friend. "Willow, I'm so sorry." The young man did the only thing he knew how, he took Willow in his arms and rocked her.

"It was horrible, Xander! I thought I was ready, …but I wasn't. I messed up, t-that evil force went inside me again and the next thing I know I killed Kennedy. I snapped out of it but it was too late and ….and I ruined it for everybody!" A dribble of tears landed on Xander's shoulder. She clenched him tighter.

"Shh, shhh" Xander whispered in the redhead's ear. "It wasn't your fault Will, you didn't know." He continued to hold on to her as hard as he could. He wanted to feel her guilt and pain, but something was…off. Like he knew deep down that she could have done that spell. Being the man that he was, however, he couldn't confront her about that now.

The bonding moment was broken by a teenager's trademark sign of disgust – a big fat sigh (with an eye roll to boot). "Xander, why are you coddling her? She's the reason everything is messing up. Willow, stop being a crybaby and try again!" A sharp bitterness rolled off her tongue and onto the witch. Dawn had about enough of this 'I can't do magic' crap. She wanted Willow to start acting like the strong witch she knew and loved.

Almost immediately, Vi jumped to Dawn's defense. "She does have a point, but it's probably too late. I was the only one that escaped. All the other girls were killed. Well, not every -"

Paying Vi no attention, Xander's focus was instead directed at Dawn and her recent outburst. "Shut … up!" His voice trembled as the two words escaped his mouth. Beady eyes stared right through the two girls, like he could turn them both to stone if he wielded any supernatural powers. He continued to comfort Willow while giving Dawn the carpenter-look-of-death. "It's okay, Will. It's okay."

* * *

Buffy leaned down over Spike, almost hypnotized by the two bite marks welted in the vampire's neck. She had always thought she'd die with a stake through her heart, but now the irony had hit one of her friends instead. 

Petite fingertips caressed Spike's face. Buffy looked down through his lifeless eyes as if she had lost a child. "William…" Holding back the tears that began flooding her eyes, she gave him a quick peck on the forehead before slowly removing the amulet around his neck.

"Oh shit!" While she was distracted, a few Ubervamps managed to escape up the stairs – headed straight for Giles and Principal Wood. Instinctively, Buffy held out her arm and was shocked to see some sort of ripple appearing in the air and traveling right at the exit. The slayer watched a pack of Ubervamps trying to follow their comrades out into the school above, but were knocked back on the ground by a magical barrier. Astonished, Buffy stared at the hand that created the barrier. "What's happening to me?" she whispered to herself.

Buffy put on the amulet and almost immediately, a violent burst of holy energy crashed through the top of the Hellmouth and burned the Ubervamps to a crisp. After about thirty seconds, every last Ubervamp was destroyed and it wasn't long before she felt the Hellmouth rumble beneath her feet. A rainstorm of rocks fell from above, causing the empowered slayer to stumble.

This was the part where Buffy herself made a choice. She could stand right here, be the hero and completely destroy the Hellmouth once and for all. Her friends would escape in time and she would die a noble death. Yet it was no different than what she did two years ago! Moreover, the burden of the slayer was back on her more than ever. Someone would bring her back from heaven and the cycle would continue. Her second option? Go back up and see just what the fuck was wrong with Willow. She trusted her, she believed in her. She _chose_ her. Ultimately, Willow was the one who took the dream away from Buffy. The one with the picket fence, children, and 9 to 5 job. The normal life she had always wanted. This was Buffy's choice, and she was gonna choose the latter.

Pissed off, Buffy yanked the amulet off her neck and threw it down so hard it shattered. She didn't mean to break the damn thing, it just did…it was probably never meant to be anyway. She stomped on the remaining amulet debris and spread it in with the rest of the dead rock. A few moments later and the Hellmouth stopped shaking. The brave, fighty fight music that was playing in her head began to fade. She would save the world another day. This time, it was personal.

* * *

The walls from the teachers smoking had stained the lounge's walls a dull yellow, complimenting the sewery smell of death and war quite nicely. Rupert Giles heard the gnarling of the Turok Hans crawling their way up to the teacher's lounge. The next thing the watcher knew, an Ubervamp stood before him – wearing that god awful tattered leather outfit. Giles swung the axe, but the more powerful creature effortlessly disarmed him. A punch was sent to Giles' face, and it took everything within him to stay conscious. The Ubervamp swiped at Giles, but he moved out of the way and picked up the axe. He took another swing, only this time, faked a blow to the vamp's heart and instead took his head off with one clean stroke. 

Lacking super strength, Robin Wood flicked open a pocket knife and slashed the throat of another Ubervamp. While the monster grabbed his throat in pain, principal Wood plunged a stake in his heart. The Ubervamp still stood, and kicked Wood in the groin. He landed on a desk, breaking it in half upon impact. Wood grabbed the lighter piece of the desk and swung it at the incoming Ubervamp with all his might- but it didn't slow him down any. "This is getting silly!" He hollered and used the desk to ram the Ubervamp up against a wall. By doing so, he managed to push the stake deep enough into the Ubervamp's chest to dust him.

Giles never thought slaying two Ubervamps would be this difficult. Sweaty palms were grabbing onto an axe for dear life while he tried to soothe his breathing down to a less life-endangering level. There wasn't time for rest, however, signaled by a blazing fast figure punching principal Wood so hard through the chest that the hand appeared through the other side of his body, richly soaked in blood and guts.

Prepared for the worse, the sudden death triggered Giles to mutter a few phrases in Latin while he shuffled through his last-resort pocket. He pulled out some orbs and threw them on the floor. The creature became instantly trapped in a light-blue magic bubble.

"Dear Lord…" Giles removed his glasses then squinted at the frozen figure before him. It was an Ubervamp…only this one had breasts!

"What? Only the good guys get female power?" Giles turned around with axe in hand, but lowered the weapon when noticing it was just the powerless First Evil in the form of Buffy. "You're not going to win" Giles assured the First.

Ignoring Giles threats, The First continued the taunting. "Ooh, the black guy got killed. How politically incorrect of me." It laughed, watching the scowl forming on Giles' face. "Oh, that? A female Ubervamp. Never know what I'm gonna get out of the Hellmouth." The First eyed the magic bubble up and down. "You know that won't hold her for long, right?"

Giles ignored the First until it orbed out. He gripped tightly on the axe, waiting for whatever was next.

* * *

Crrraasshhhh. The door to principal Wood's suddenly flew off its hinges. Vi and Dawn screamed in unison while holding their heads to protect themselves from flying splinters. The door smacked itself on the opposite end of the wall, then fell down right next to Xander and Willow – about a centimeter away from knocking them into a three-year coma. 

The scoobies stared at the figure that crashed in, expecting to see some bloodthirsty Ubervamps, but instead one peeved-off looking slayer.

"I thought you were…" Xander ran up to her and was about to make with the hugs, but stopped himself when noticing the vengeance in her eyes. Gulping, he backed a few steps away. "Whoa, cool down there Buff. Willow didn't" - Xander couldn't finish his sentence on account of him being pushed through a wall.

Intervening, Dawn hopped up in Xander's former spot. "Buffy! What's wrong? Willow made you evil, didn't she." She turned around at the crying witch in the corner. "See what you did, Willow!!!"

"Dawnie, sweetheart?" Buffy batted her eyelashes. "Please move out of the way or you'll join Xander." There was an icy condescension in her voice, making the youngest Summers quickly back off. Vi also stepped away. Ubervamps were one thing, but an Uberslayer looked about ten times scarier.

"Get up!" Buffy commanded. She easily pulled the witch up to her feet with one hand locked tightly around her red hair. A fiery stare burned through Willow's being before she felt her shoulders being slammed against the wall. "On second thought, I think you should stay down…where you belong. Sit, bitch." Buffy let go of Willow's hair and the witch slumped back down to her corner, looking up at Buffy with eyes similar to an orphaned puppy dog.

Buffy continued the vehemence. "What the hell is wrong with you! My little pep talk wasn't enough for you, huh? I guess you really are the little nobody in High School…can you even begin to comprehend the damage you caused? Because what, you're scared of yourself. Scared of your own shadow, like a little kid. Oooh look, I'm Willow and I can't do a spell. Waaah, Xander – pleathe help me! Make everything better for me. Help me pretend my life isn't pathetic as…"

For a split second, the only thing Buffy wanted was to field goal Willow's face and watch the cartilage from the witch's nose to fly right up to her brain and make her a retard for the rest of her life. Fortunately, she stopped herself just in time. "God, oh God…Willow. I'm so sorry." She looked behind at Xander, trying to grasp what she just did … and what she was about to do.

Strangely, Willow grinned from ear to ear then pulled herself up on two feet via levitation. "Well, isn't this turning out lovely!"

Bewildered, Dawn, Vi and Buffy stared at Willow's sudden change of character. "I knew Willow should have finished that How Not to Be Evil class in England!" Dawn nervously quipped while scurrying beside Vi, who was hiding behind Buffy.

"Surprise! I'm not Willow." A hand was waved and 'Willow' was revealed to be …Amy Madison! "By the way Buffy, _niiiiice_. I agreed with everything you said.

The slayer had to practically order her leg not to snap up and kick this bitch right in her smarmy face. She needed to know the truth. "What did you do?" Her fists clenched tightly together, knuckles turning white. Buffy knew she had enough power to knock Amy's head off in one shot.  
Amy smiled. "As you wish…but first, I think we need the whole gang in on this. It'll make the shock effect just that much more interesting, ya know?" With a snap of her fingers, Giles, Anya, and Andrew appeared in the room along with the dead body of Spike and the unconscious body of Faith.

"Well now that" - Amy was interrupted by Spike…moving? The vampire pulled himself up. He noticed the amulet was missing but was more concerned why the hell he was even in this room. He looked at the dead girl on the floor and Amy standing right above her all bad-assy. "Great, woke up just in time for a brawl." He stared threateningly at Amy before his eyes moved toward Buffy along with that coy, sexy smile. "Now's not the time for a we don't hurt humans speech love. Please tell me we're about to fight here."

A spark of her former self returned to Buffy's face when she realized that Spike was all right. Should have known vampires can't die that way, Buffy thought. "No, no fighting. Not yet. More like…listening." She would try to explain later.

Spike sent Buffy a sarcastic smile. "Remind me again why I fight with the lot of you." He stood next to Dawn in case anything happened to her. He couldn't forgive himself if anything happened to the bit. He was also worried about the fact that Xander's legs were sticking out of a broken wall, but he didn't say anything. Spike had a macho image to keep up, after all.

Frustrated, Amy placed both hands on her hips. "Anybody else want to conveniently get up from being knocked out?" After that was said, Faith's eyes started opening and the next thing Amy knew, Andrew and Anya were helping the brunette slayer stand up on both feet.

"Whoa- ow…hey, what's up?" Although Faith had many questions, the most obvious one had to be asked first. "We supposed to be fighting her or something?" She pointed at Amy with a raised brow.

"Listening" Spike answered, approaching Faith while patting his pocket for a cig. He pulled out a cancer stick and lit it, then gave one to Faith. He noticed the empty look on the slayer, but all he could offer her was a shrug. "Confused as you are, pet."

Buffy's attention turned back to Amy. "Okay Drama queen. Now that you've got an audience, wanna tell us what you did with Willow?"

Amy smiled wide and her eyes twinkled with evil. "Boy, have we kept you guys in the dark for awhile. Willow offed herself months ago." Amy waved her hand and a semi-distorted image of Willow in the UC Sunnydale bathroom played before everyone. She was popping some pills in her mouth. The screen fast forwarded to her corpse being dragged out by a few Bringers. "Happened a little after her confrontation with the First. Guess she bought all that junk about joining Tara in heaven. Wonder how that worked out, huh?"

Dawn's face turned pale after watching the horrid suicide. She looked behind her to find Andrew crying and Anya frowning worriedly. Giles muttered some 'dear lords' under his breath and started excessively cleaning his glasses.

Buffy couldn't take much more. Suddenly, a left hook crashed into Amy's face and the screen before them vanished.  
The witch caught the blood that splattered out of her nose with an outstretched palm. "Ah come on Buffy, you're holding back." She knew it was easier than ever for Buffy to cross that line and kill a human. Even somebody as twisted and wrong as Amy, the line would still be crossed.

"At least I still have the power TO hold back." She pulled Amy up and slammed her against the wall.. "So you took Willow's place after she died." The less experienced witch was always jealous of Willow's power. "But what did you do to me? To the girls?"

"Gave all the potentials slayer powers. Just like you wanted."

Wrinkling her forehead, Buffy made a 'huh' face.

Amy grinned and continued, "For about two seconds. Then I transferred all the slayers' power to you. The chosen line now flows with one…and only one. Don't you feel special?"

Feeling defeat, Buffy didn't even feel like punching Amy in the face anymore. "And making me a hundred times more powerful is going to help your side how, exactly?" Buffy's voice shook as she spoke, because she already knew the answer.

Amy smiled. She knew Buffy wasn't this stupid. "You're about choices, right? Well, it's only a matter of time before you choose us. For seven years you've fought with everything you had to lead a normal life and this is the day where you learn that's impossible. The one thing you wanted the most, you'll never be able to have…so you'll join us." Amy paused like she was finished, but she wasn't. "It doesn't really matter anyway. The power of the slayers is slowly traveling through you. You'll gradually become less and less human everyday… and eventually turn into an absolute force of destruction. The true power of the slayer."

"Buffy, you mustn't give up. There's still the scythe! We can get the coven to reverse this."

The comforting voice of Buffy's father figure momentarily pulled the slayer out of her depression. She made eye contact with Amy and noticed the 'uh-oh' stamped on her face. That cued Buffy in for the fight scene.

While throwing herself backwards, Buffy kicked Amy against the wall then somersaulted on top of Kennedy's dead body. Just when Buffy was about to pull the scythe out of her corpse, she was telekinetically thrown against Spike and Dawn.

"**Now** we fight…" Buffy told Spike as she rolled off him. Spike, Faith, Giles, Dawn, Anya, Vi and even Andrew charged at Amy while Buffy ran toward the scythe.

With a snap of Amy's fingers, all of Buffy's allies instantly vanished out of the principal's office and into opposite ends of the school. Using the slayer's confusion to her advantage, Amy telekinetically slid the dead body toward the other end of the room, while telekinetically tossing Buffy in her own direction. She punched Buffy in her nose while she was still soaring through the air, then levitated and double-kicked her face before she could recover.

_This chick is good_, Buffy thought. She took a swing at Floaty Amy, but all her fist managed to hit was air. Buffy then noticed the area around them getting dark, so she used her new shield power to protect herself against an incoming lightning bolt. A fireball was also sent Buffy's way, but she ducked in the nick of time. "You know, I always thought girls who wore those element shirts were pretty morbid" Buffy snarked, distracting Amy long enough to jump off a desk and tackle her back to the ground.

A kick and a punch flew at Amy's face. The witch got up and tried to punch Buffy, but she blocked and countered with a forceful backhanded. Amy's body went spiraling out of control, smashing into the cheesy 'There's no I in Team' poster. "I'll kill you if I have to" Buffy threatened, waiting for Amy's next attack.

Amy laughed hysterically, coughing out some blood. "No, you won't. Not yet anyway."

Angrier than ever, Buffy grabbed a pencil on the desk and flicked it at Amy's hand with alarming accuracy. The sharp object swiftly penetrated through her palm, causing the witch to scream out in pain. This gave Buffy more than enough time to run to Kennedy's body and get the scythe, although she was surprised to discover that it had already been taken. Xander. He must have grabbed it while they were fighting. She smiled and ran out of the room.

"Buffy, come on!" A voice called at her from the hallway. She looked back at the sole survivor of the ex-potentials. "The others are waiting. We're leaving."

Buffy started to walk out of Sunnydale High, her brain trying to gather everything that happened so far. The slayer line flows through her… all the Potentials killed besides Vi. Willow's been dead for months. Yet after everything she learned today, one thing remained the same. The scythe was still their only hope. She had faith that Giles and the others would find a way to reverse Amy's spell. Before Buffy went out in the daylight to join her friends, she looked down at the shoe that was about to seriously harm the person she thought was Willow. She wouldn't become the evil she was destined to fight. No, she'd never let that happen.

**NEXT CHAPTER: 'What's Up With Xander?**


	2. What's up with Xander?

What's up with Xander? (This fic takes place a few hours after 'What's up with Buffy?' ended)

**Sunnydale High, parking lot. 9:05 PM**

"Is everyone all right?" Giles asked, trying to break the silence of his depressed pupils. Everyone had their heads down and was at a total loss for what to do next.

Buffy rolled her eyes after that question. "I know you mean well, but honestly Giles. What do YOU think? The First is still running things, most of our army has been killed off, there's a new kind of bad in the school, and I will never, ever have a normal life."

"And you still manage to always make it out to be about you!" Anya interrupted, stepping forward into Buffy's face.

Xander leaped in between the two women. "Ix nay on the rama day!" the boy ordered. "This is exactly what the First wants us to do, and I for one am sick of it. Besides, didn't this JUST happen a few episodes ago? Hello, let's be a little original."

"I just love it when he takes charge" Andrew said with lust in his voice, sucking on a lollipop. Spike gave a discreet head tilt toward Andrew, leaving Dawn to stand there all confused, like there was some secret gay/bi guy code that she wasn't getting. She shrugged it off. "What do we know so far?"

"That we're back to being helpless little humans who try too hard" Vi replied. She sighed.

Faith reminded the gang of the little hope they had left. "But we still have the scythe like G said. We should head to the coven right now-"

Suddenly, Xander's single eye glowed white and he stared off into space like he could see another scene being played out right before him. "No. We can't. They've all been killed by Bringers."

"DAMNIT TO HELL!" Giles exclaimed, so peeved by the fact that he didn't even pay attention to Xander's new ability. "I knew I shouldn't have said that out loud. "Bloody omniscience..." Vi comforted the watcher by patting him on the back.

Dawn blinked repeatedly, amazed. "Wow, Xander. You really CAN see things! What the hell is happening to you. And Buffy... This is good, right? We're all getting stronger." Her eyes shifted over everyone, who seemed to be sort of agreeing with her. They just weren't sure what to make of the situation.

"No it's not" Buffy said. "What's happening to Xand can't be good. It's the First's mind trick - somehow the Bringers are giving Xander power. It's probably even a phony vision just to mess with our minds."

Xander shook his head. "No, Buff. It was plenty real. I could feel it too, their hearts being ripped out...I could even smell the smell."

Buffy shook her head, disagreeing with Xander. "No, you're not supposed to have power. I mean, it goes against-"

Andrew stepped up, appalled that Buffy could say this about her best friend. "Hey, back down Callisto! Who are you to say who gets the power? Maybe Xander has been granted a gift. Like Peter Parker or...Gahndi."

The pert blonde's anger was beginning to flare up. She just KNEW she was right about this. She looked at Andrew. "Okay, if you want me to get all PC- Xander isn't supposed to have _supernatural_ power. It just goes against who he is." She faced the group. "Tell me you guys aren't falling for another one of The First's tricks!"

Faith folded her arms, not afraid to confront Buffy as usual. "How's this a trick, B? Xander could be our one way ticket out of this circle we've been running around for the past few months."

Buffy looked around. "You _guuuys_" she whined. "I can't believe this is happening. AGAIN. Remember the deal about the scythe? I was right. There really was something there. I'm right here too, I just KNOW it."

"Oh yeah, and finding the little knick knack turned out to be oh so very important" Spike said. "Looks to me your fancy little axe there has been knocked down to being just another bleeding weapon." _Perhaps Buffy needed to be knocked back down to being just another Slayer_, Spike thought. And if it would ever come down to it, Spike was his own man now. He'd take the bitch on in a fight. No matter how much power she gathered.

Ignoring Spike, Buffy raged on. "The First knows we love Xander and thinks that we won't question his new power for what it really might be. We're STILL in a war guys. I've tried to be sentimental with my previous speech, but that obviously only stalled the inevitable."

Xander put a comforting hand on Buffy's shoulder before anyone could start giving her a well deserved bitchfest. "Listen, Buffy. I know you believe you're right, I really do." He gave her a meangingful look and she started to cry. "But, maybe - just maybe, you're not. Even when you almost always are. And what then, do you think that means you'll be a bad person? That you'll fail us?"

Buffy hugged Xander. "I-I just don't want anything to happen to you. Xander, please. It's not that I don't want you to be strong. But if I'm wrong...all it takes is just one mistake and the First wins."

"It's okay, it's okay" Xander reassured. "But let's not make any judgments 'till we find out what's really happening to me, okay?"

Buffy felt a soft glow envelop her entire being as she continued to hug Xander. She stared at her left hand while her arms were still tightly wrapped around the carptener's strong, protective body. The hand was previously bruised before, but now the wound had completely disappeared. "Wha...you can heal people too."

Xander looked down at Buffy's hand. "Whoa nelly."

Buffy looked at Xander with tears in her eyes as she stroked his face. "Maybe this is a good thing after all."

"Not to break up the moment..." He stopped himself. "Who am I kidding. I love to break up the moments."

Buffy rolled her eyes and faced the vampire. "What is it Spike?"

"Must I remind you that we still have an Uberbitch to slay." He shot a mean glare toward the blonde. "Not you, love. The vampire...still trapped in the school. Surely you bints haven't forgot."

"He's right" Buffy announced to the gang. "With my new abilities, I may be able to show that non-bitch what woman power REALLY is."

"I'm coming with you" Xander declared.

Giles pushed up his glasses. "I am well aware that you feel all worthy now, but you still in fact lack offensive powers" the watcher reminded Xander. "Buffy is the only one who can fight this thing." He paused. "I was the only one who saw what this new creature is truly capable of." He gave an apologetic look to Faith about the loss of Principal Wood.

Xander politely agreed with Giles, and stepped back into his supportive role. "Looks like it's all on you, Buff. Again."

She shook her head. "No. It's NEVER just me." The slayer suddenly faced Anya, who had been withdrawn for the longest time. "Anya, what do you know about female Ubervamps?"

Anya perked up. She bitched out Buffy more than once in her life, but really, all she wanted to do was just be useful to her. She has been secretely jealous of the Slayer ever since she's been De-Vengeance Demoned, and was always glad when she could be of use. She cleared her throat. "Well, there's the the Old Ones and then there's the... Oldest Ones."

The gang listened attentively to Anya's information.

"You can weaken them, throw anything you want at them, but you can never kill them. The only way is to trap them...but now that they're free from the Hellmouth, I don't know how to contain them."

Buffy nodded. "Well they're still vampires, right? Are you telling me that sunlight or decapitation or NOTHING will work?"

Anya shook her head. "I'm afraid not. They actually created female power in the first place, so you can't even kill them. It's a balance thing. It's like fighting darkness itself. But there is a loophole. They can't be killed, but they can indeed kill themselves. It's rather complicated..."

"Isn't it always?" Buffy quipped. "Well, they can kill themselves. That's good news. I don't know how exactly that's gonna work out yet, but okay - we can do that."

Anya shook her head. "You guys aren't getting the balance thing. Once a lady Turok Han kills herself, the female power will be completely eradicated in a human. The human closest to her when it happens. The Oldest Ones operate in a fashion even before good and evil were at each other's throats."

Vi piped up. "Wait! That's EXCELLENT news! Buffy already has too much power for a human. Maybe by ...uh making the Ubervampiress commit suicide, she'll revert back to who she was before!"

Buffy looked down, contemplating. "No. That has to be too good to be true."

"Well, we won't know until you get with the slaying- right?" Spike said. "Now get to it, all this talking is making my head hurt."

Buffy nodded. She took a deep breath, clenched the scythe in her hand and began to march back into the high school.

"BUFFY - WAIT!" Xander called out.

Buffy turned around. "What? What's going on. What are you seeing?"

Xander felt the air around him, like a blind man learning how to walk. "She's running away back into the Hellmouth. Ooh boy, they must think our plan is going to work!" His eye began to well up with tears.

Buffy smiled, strapping on her resolve face. "I'm the cat and she's the mouse." And with that, Buffy ran as fast as she could through the school doors.

"Go get 'er tiger" Xander said happily. Maybe this whole thing would work out after all.

NEXT CHAPTER: What's up with Amy?


	3. What's up with Amy?

**What's up with Amy?**

Buffy fell into the Seal of Danzathar, landing cat-like on two feet. She scoped out the area, trying to find the female Ubervamp that Xander had seen in his vision. Buffy looked down into the pit that formerly housed a couple thousand Turok Hans. She took a big huff and jumped down in.

Buffy looked around her, surprised that she wasn't being attacked by _something_. She sighed and cracked her knuckles. "Not really in the mood for a vampenger hunt, but hey." She walked in a straight path until she bumped into a Powers That Be-ish looking guard that looked about as fast he was muscular. He stood right before a hole in the wall that must have lead to deeper realms of the Hellmouth.

Even with Buffy's new abilities, this dude looked like a decent challenge. However, he had a friendly demeanor to him and was already a bit wounded from a previous battle, so she decided to lay off the roundhouse kicks for now.

The guard noticed Buffy's friendly posture. "Welcome to the one-hundred floor dungeon!" he said as if the dump was like a tourist attraction. "May I help you?"

Buffy raised a brow. "One-hundred floor dungeon? Sounds all epic and dangerous."

The guard laughed. "Yes, it quite is. Each floor is...or _was_ a prison to a particular breed of the Oldest Ones. Creatures that are unable to choose anything but pure carnage and mayhem are trapped in here for eternity."

"Chaotically evil" Buffy said matter-of-factly, her girlish charm finally resurfacing after all these years. "That's what it's called...when monsters are like that."

"Hmm. Interesting term."

Buffy nodded. "Yeah. Learned it from this gay geek named Andrew. Anyhow, I was wondering if I could go there, check things out? I'm a lot stronger than I look. I know, vampire slayers - not all that special to you cosmically worthy types, but I just got this wicked cool upgrade and - "

The guard chuckled. "I'm all about free will, so you can go in if you want to, but it would be against my personal recommendations. There's just no way ANYBODY could fight off a hoard of female Ubervamps. The only thing that's keeping the world somewhat safe right now is this mystical barrier that protects any of these old-timers getting through."

Buffy thought for a moment. "So how'd that she-vamp escape then, hmm?" She pointed to his wound.

Jeff looked away while Buffy took notice to his wound. He seemed very embarrased by the fact. "Well, uh.. evil has been winning for a good two years now. When that happens consistently, the barriers fade just enough for one of the Unclean ones to escape."

"So the fate of the world really does hang in the balance" Buffy commented. She folded her arms and looked up at the guard who was much, much taller than her. "Never really realized that until now." She smiled.

The guard laughed. "I like you...you got spunk. My name is Jeff. What's yours?" He held out a hand for her to shake.

"Buffy" she said while shaking his hand. A long moment had passed before the slayer suddenly started cracking up.

"Huh. What's so funny?" Jeff asked, honestly bewildered.

"Oh, it's just that people usually make some sort of witty retort when they hear my name. I guess it's not too freakish sounding when you have YOUR job." She batted her eyelashes.

Jeff laughed with Buffy. "Oh, you're such a flirt. I think I'm blushing..."

Their conversation was temporarily halted by the sudden apperance of a baby male Ubervamp being tossed out of the mystical shield behind Jeff. Instinctively, Buffy caught the little guy in her arms, but promptly dropped the sinister infant when she realized what it was.

She looked up at Jeff, noticing how cool he was about the whole thing. "Oh God. This must happen a lot..."

He laughed again. "Male Turok Hans are immediately rejected by their mothers when they're born. Since they're not one of the OldEST ones, they're not bound to the properties of the shield and so they get thrown back here at limbo headquarters."

She looked down at the crying little bundle of ugliness. "And here I thought I've seen the last of these guys. God, can't those bitches be lesbos?"

Jeff shook his head. "They reproduce asexually. You'd have to kill of all the female Ubervamps to stop the male ones from forming and I'm sure you already know the consequence of THAT happening." Jeff sighed. "Whether we like it or not, in just a few more years this place will be chock-full of male Ubervamps. Just like before."

She looked down. "All these damn rules about good and evil. Don't you wish you could just wave your hand and kill' em all?" Buffy did just that while gazing at the baby Ubervamp with so much disgust. She then watched in horror as it exploded to dust right before her.

Jeff backed away. "Whoa momma! You just got rid of that thing by just...doing whatever you did there." ... "Still shouldn't go in here, though" he quipped.

Buffy caught her breath, trying to recover from that charcoal feeling that naturally came by using so much of her demonic Slayer power.

Jeff put a hand on Buffy's shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, I should be. I probably can't do that often. I mean, that was just a male one right. A baby male to boot." She looked at Jeff. "I'm here to slay that female Ubervamp you fought, but it's not going to be easy. I'll have to hold back a lot of my power while kicking ass at the same time."

Jeff nodded, getting what Buffy was saying. "Yeah, too much power really does throw folks off. It's hard not to get corrupt, ya know? I'm proud of myself, you don't know how many times the First tries to get me to give up my current status and become a 'higher' being. Geesh."

Buffy gulped. "Well, in a few months I don't think I'm even going to have a choice whether or not to be corrupt." A lightbulb turned on in her head. "Heavens to Buffy, maybe that's what the First wants to turn me into - a _New_ One?"

Jeff stared in space, not really understanding what Buffy was talking about. "So, you were looking for the Ubervamp that escaped, right? She's right over there." He pointed to his left.

Buffy followed his finger with her eyes and noticed the female Ubervamp from a far away distance. The monster was just like Giles had described, fully naked with unrealistic, comic book-like boobs. Xander would be in heaven. The Ubervamp also appeared to be on her back with her legs spread, like she was either giving birth or having sex. Buffy really hoped that it wasn't the latter.

The slayer wanted to stay and chat with Jeff, ask him about the breeding cycles of Ubervamps and such, but that would have to come later. "Jeff... if you see me again and I'm irredeemably evil, don't be afraid to kick my ass, okay?" She waved bye to the guard and starting to walk toward her new nemesis.

"Here we go" Buffy said under her breath while she approached the monster.

Buffy waved her hand and telekinetically threw the two Bringers that were kneeling in a praying position in front of the female Ubervamp. She then threw her scythe like a boomerang and decapitated the two minions. As soon as the weapon was brought back in her hands, she tried to jump kick the Ubervamp, but it rolled away with a speed that Buffy never seen before. The monster then stood up on two feet and roared at Buffy.

"You really should have been on the pill" Buffy said while noticing the vampire's visibly pregnant stomach. She was trying to distract the vampire with one of her infamous quips. It wasn't working though, and the slayer was slashed three times in the chest with lightning-fast carnage. Blood spewed everywhere and her boobs began to hurt like hell, but the attack was far from fatal.

The Ubervamp tried to claw Buffy again, but she concentrated and allowed her new power to take over. She effortlessly side-stepped away from the swipe and followed through with an axe kick to the back of the bitch's neck. Buffy had to use some of her extra power to slay this thing, but too much and she would cross that line and never return good again. Even that simple side-step was risky, and Buffy had to keep thinking of her friends and family while fighting.

Buffy used her shield power to block one of the Ubervamp's split-second roundhouses. She was about to telekentically toss the tramp away from her, but halted when she thought that it would send her over the edge. Buffy instead lashed out a regular-ol' slayer kick to the vamp's face. However, her ankle was promptly grabbed and the petite slayer was tossed three-sixty into a nearby stalagmite.

"Okay, that hurt" Buffy said rubbing her shoulder, although she was happy that she could still feel pain. She didn't want any broken ribs though, so she decided to heat up the ante a bit. "I can control myself" she whispered. The vampire dashed toward Buffy in a super-speed blur, but the slayer grabbed the top of the stalagmite and spun around, kicking the Ubervamp away by using her own speed against her.

"On second thought, to hell with control." Buffy then bicycle kicked the vampire back a few feet and followed through with some scythe-slashes to her neck while she couldn't block. Buffy finished off the combo with an uppercut, which sent her opponent flying upward. Before the Ubervamp came down, Buffy held her sycthe upside down and watched with glee as her enemy fell right on top the stake portion.

Just like Anya said, the double x Ubie didn't dust, but it was now very, very weak. Since Buffy had hit a natural weak spot, the vamp's strength and speed were greatly drained. With just a whisk of Buffy's hand, the stalagmite she crashed into hovered into the air, becoming a stalactite. Buffy then waved her fingers downward and the stalactite broke on top of the Ubervamp's head. The monster collapsed on the ground, knocked out cold.

In a blink of eye, Buffy lost focus and shifted her eyes toward Jeff. With her opposite hand, she was about to choke the righteous guard from a distance. The slayer caught herself at the last second before delivering the fatal blow. "Oh God, what am I doing?" she cried while stepping back from all the violence.

Buffy looked down at the female Ubervamp and placed the scythe in her hand before grabbing the monster's wrist. "I'm sending a message to all those teenage girls that talk about killing themselves." She was about to make the Ubervamp stake herself, but chickened out when she remembered what Anya had said. _Once a lady Turok Han kills herself, the female power will be completely eradicated in a human. The human closest to her when it happens._ But how much power would this take away, exactly? Like she was before or like she was NEVER before? A normal girl without any powers whatsover. She always wanted to have her own life, but not being a slayer?! That just wasn't who she was. Buffy couldn't have that, so she tried to think of something else instead. "A-ha!" she declared.

Suddenly, a carbon-copy of Faith materalized in Amy Madison's kitchen. It was a dark-blue shadowy figure that was a mere echo of the brunette Slayer, but still looked just as dangerous as the original. A few minutes later and "Faith" had found Amy comfortably positioned on her living room sofa, playing a Nintendo gameboy. "You're coming with me" Faith said, but she still had Buffy's voice. Before Amy could react to what was going on, her arm was grabbed and she was teleported to the Hellmouth.

The figment then vanished into a puff of black smoke as Amy tried to adjust to Bizarro Buffy. "Ooh, you're gonna kill me after all. Somebody's got BALLS." Amy laughed.

"No...worse. I'm gonna take away your bitch, bitch." Buffy quickly hopped backwards out of the way and then she telekinetically forced the Ubervamp to stake herself while Amy stood right next to the vamp.

After the Ubervamp turned to dust, Amy's entire posture instantly changed. She WAS standing there with her hands on her hips like she owned everything in the world, but now she simply looked around meekly, like a high school freshman at a drunken frat party. "I-I'm scared" Amy said, trembling. "AIEEEEE, WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!" Amy jumped behind Buffy and pointed down at the newborn Ubervamp, only this one was female.

Buffy shook her head at the sight. "And people wonder why I'm pro-choice..." She was about to wave her hand and make the little Ubie choke herself, but lowered said hand when she realized that Amy's bitch power had already been drained. She couldn't do this again to another person, since she already sort of crossed the line of morality. Assuming there was such a thing anymore. Thinking quickly, Buffy grabbed Amy's hand and dashed the other way, the echoing voice of The First breaking her concentration.

The voice was cryptic and creepy, with all her friends screaming at once as a vision of Buffy appeared before the two girls. The slayer saw herself killing Xander and Faith and feeding off their flesh like a rabid hyena. But while she was doing so she...felt nothing. Not satisfaction, not hatred or pain. Just nothing. And then the vision slowly warped into a hospital scene with The First chanting "Humanity slipping...slipping away" while the Evil took on the form of her mom giving birth to Buffy, next to the Ubervamp giving birth to her daughter.

Buffy did her best to ignore The First's psychosis, running through the incorporeal vision until she and Amy reached a dead end. She looked high up at the cliff's peak. She'd have to use her new power to escape out of the pit, but doing that might speed up her transformation into a Chaotically Evil slayer. She decided that she can't use ANY of her slayer powers, not yet anyway. "Amy! We have to get out of here. Can you cast a levitation spell, or something?" She already knew the answer, but she had to try. Buffy had never given up on herself, maybe this whole thing was a test to see if she could extend that discipline to others.

"Magic is bad for you" Amy said quietly, avoiding eye contact with the much stronger blonde. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I don't think we can fight this thing, Buffy."

Buffy sighed. She figured as much. She tried to hold on to the ex-bitch/witch while silmutaneously climb up the pit, but that just wouldn't work without the aide of Slayer powers. Just when all hope seemed to be lost, a familar figure tapped her on her shoulder.

"Jeff!" Buffy cried out, turning around. "You know a way out of this hell hole?"

Jeff laughed. "I've created an emergency exit in case something like happens." Jeff looked behind him and noticed three Bringers guarding said exit. Behind them seemed like just another mere wall, but if people went through they'd be transported out of the pit. Jeff blinked. "How did they know...I know the First is omniscient and all, but I didn't even say anything!"

Buffy gulped. "Their powers must have grown somehow. But it doesn't matter. Jeff, fight them off so we can get out of here!"

Jeff sighed. "Buffy- I c-can't."

Oh brother. It was just one thing after the next. "What do you mean, can't? They're Bringers. They're like itty bitty gnats as far as eternal darkness goes."

Jeff shook his head. "No, Buffy -If I destroy anything, and I mean anything- I'll lose my status as a warrior for the Powers That Be."

Buffy shook her head. "You moron! They're evil...you're good, kick their ass!"

Jeff sighed, noticing three more Bringers approaching them from the other direction. He grabbed a flying knife sent to his head and threw it back down. "It's never that simple. I-I don't know if I can explain it now."

Buffy blinked twice. "So basically, we're three incredibly powerful beings who can't use their three incredibly powerful powers for three incredibly different reasons?"

Amy nodded. "Yeah, that about sums it up" Jeff added, ducking another airborne knife.

"RUUUUUUN" Buffy shouted to her allies. They had no other choice.

**NEXT CHAPTER: What's up with Giles? **


	4. What's up with Giles?

**What's up with Giles?**

Buffy looked up at Jeff while she ran away from the diving knives that tried to stab the trio. "Some guard you are- you didn't even fight back when Miss Fang Thang escaped, did you? Who _are_ you?" Buffy asked. She was sick and tired of everyone she met being some dark warrior for The First. It was getting to be ridiculous, and if Jeff happened to be secretly evil, well she should have just air-choked him awhile back and be done with it.

Jeff gulped, honestly intimidated by Buffy's sudden animosity. "I'm a good guy...that's all you need to know for now. Actually, I work for something that's more magnificient than good or evil, but that's besides the point. We gotta find a way outta here."

Buffy turned around toward Amy, and it didnt take her long to notice the horror in the ex-witch's eyes. She looked down and noticed Amy had been stabbed in the side. The slayer thought quickly and used her shield spell on the wound so that no moreblood would escape. The ex-bitch would still need to be properly healed, though.

Jeff turned his attention back on the Bringers who were guarding their only escape. He concentrated on trying to move his thoughts outward which should allow the Bringers to easily read his mind. Just as he planned, the Bringers charged at them, leaving the emergency exit exposed. Jeff grabbed Buffy's hand, Buffy grabbed Amy's hand and together the three dashed through the wall and out of the pit.

"Whew!" Buffy sighed after the three escaped, standing right smack dab in the middle of the football field. She turned around, expecting to see a pack of Bringers following them, yet there was nothing. They appeared to be safe, for now.

Jeff smiled. "Don't worry, they can't follow us."

Buffy nodded, catching her breath. "Gotta say, I really hate it when I have to run from the bad guys. It's supposed to be the other way around." She looked at Amy, who was crying helplessly. Buffy's first reaction was to call for an ambulance, but she soon remembered that the Hospital was permanently closed. "Xander!" Buffy finally cried out. "We have to get her to the parking lot. My friend can heal her."

Jeff nodded, assuming that this Amy girl was Buffy's friend or something. He helped Buffy carry her and together the two slowly marched her to the parking lot.

* * *

"What's this going to do?" Vi asked the gang, who were all sitting Indian-style on the parking lot save for Spike. The whole thing smelled just a little too koombayah for his taste. Instead, he was leaning on a sign, smoking a cig.

Giles looked up. "Well, we musn't give up. If Buffy can indeed slay this new monster, that should buy us some time."

"Until what?" Dawn asked. "It's just one thing after the another. Maybe we've been looking at this all wrong. Maybe we have to fight The First directly...somehow." She looked around. "Are we really gonna say it's impossible just because some floating eyes told us so?"

Anya thought about that for a moment. "You know, she's not wrong Giles. It's not some huge victory if Buffy manages to slay one measly Oldest One."

Xander quietly sat in the group, envisoning that there was a campfire in the middle of them and they were all just hanging out telling goofy scary stories and that there wasn't a war going on. He actually saw the cackling fire along with the bright comfort that came with the heat. He shrugged it off, it was just a vision. A possibility, but not part of this reality.

"Don't fret....dear Xander" Giles said, putting a hand on the boy's shoulder while staring at his neck. His...delicious neck. It looked so moist and so penetrable, and could Xander be any more hotter? Giles gave into his new passion and delved forward into the young man's neck.

"Aieee!" Xander screamed, trying to bat Giles hand away. "What the hell are you doing!" he asked as he felt two fangs sink into his neck. A few seconds later and Giles was safely thrown off. Spike.

Vi stood in a fighting poistioned and together, she and Faith kicked Giles back down when he got up again. "Who are you!" the redhead screamed.

Andrew blinked, trying to understand what the hell was happening. "Oh no, Mr. Giles is a vampire! He grabbed a cross from his pocket and held it up to him. He realized it was upside down, so he quickly repositioned it the right away.

"I think I'm a vampire" Giles said, affirming Andrew's suspicions. "I feel fast...and strong. And strangely bisexual." He looked at Spike, Xander and Andrew. "It's bloody liberating!"

Andrew gulped. "He's a newbie, so he probably doesn't have as many hit points as Ubervamps or...Vengeance Demons." He looked at Anya and smiled. "Uh, we can do this gang!"

Faith kicked Giles in the face. She wasn't a slayer anymore, so he didn't go flying back as he normally would have, but it did enough damage to cause him to growl angrily. "Anybody got a stake on them?" Faith asked as though she were in prison asking for a cigarette. They might as well dust Giles before Buffy got back and saw what happened to him.

"No!" Xander proclaimed. "How could Buffy live with herself if she found out he's gone for good? And that's all that dusting will do... it won't stop evil. We just can't kill him."

Dawn nodded, agreeing with Xander. "I mean, she did the same thing with Angel and Spike. The whole not wanting to dust them thing." _Then again, she wasn't screwing Giles_ Dawn thought. At least she HOPED not.

Spike groaned while slightly knocking Xander upside the head. "He's already dead! It's a war. People die. You even heard the damn speech from the great Buffy herself."

"No, damnit!" Xander screamed. "We can't do this to Buffy. I'm tired of losing people. We can re-soul him later...somehow." He thought of Willow's death and how there was never any time for him to grieve. "Just...tie him up."

"Tie him up?" Spike sarcastically mocked. He looked back into Xander's determined eye. "Oh fine Harris, but you owe me for this one."

Right when Xander was about to ask what that favor would entail exactly, the four women fought Giles back into the nearest tree. "Anybody have any rope?" Faith huffed, trying to pin Giles back into the palm tree.

Before the men could all respond with a resounding "no", Buffy appeared alongside Jeff and a limping Amy. The slayer's jaw dropped to the pavement when she saw Giles in game face.

Xander rushed over to Amy, noticing her wound. "Oh God..." He looked around. "I don't have to hug her to heal her, do I?" Xander noticed Jeff, who just kept staring at him. "Uh...hi there" he said to the stranger.

Ignoring Xander, Buffy stared into Giles direction. It was like everything around her had frozen into place and only she was the only one standing there. In fact, it wasn't "like" anything- Buffy really did stop time! She shook her head and unfroze everything. As soon as time went on ticking again, Giles leaped toward Buffy. Buffy closed her eyes and a single tear dropped down her cheek as her watcher pounced on her.

"Bloody hell slayer, you went from almighty know-it-all to crying doormat in all but a few hours?" Spike asked, tossing Giles off of Buffy. He looked at Buffy, then Xander. "I'm tired of saving you two. Either learn how to fight or-"

"Shut up Spike!" Dawn said. She put an arm around her sister and began stroking her hair.

Buffy shook her head, snapping out of her daze. "I-I can't fight anymore." Buffy sobbed. She looked over at Amy, who was crying just because she herself was crying. The slayer rolled her eyes at that. "I mean, I almost killed an innocent with my new powers. Meet Jeff everyone."

The Scooby gang all shifted their eyes toward Jeff, who was busily staring at Xander like he was Jesus or something. Jeff got down on one knee and started kissing Xander's toes through his sneakers.

Buffy arched a brow at the sight of such a big strong warrior worshipping her loveable yet geeky friend. "Well...that's unexpected." She looked back and forth between vamp-Giles and Jeff, trying to figure out which event was crazier.

Amy glanced down at her wound, noticing that it was completely healed up.. She was too shy to say thank you, so she just joined Jeff in smiling sweetly at Xander.

"Don't you guys see it?" Jeff said, crying. "Our savior is here!"

Xander looked around and smiled. "Savior? Wow!"

Giles growled. He was starting to become hungry for some blood, but as long as he was around all these superhero types, he couldn't get some. He ran away into the night.

Anya shook her head as she tried to register everything that happened. "And he was beginning to be so sexy too."

"Still kinda sexy" Andrew said, getting out another lollipop.

Buffy threw her hands up in frustration. "This is no time for jokes. Why is all this stuff happening to us? There has to be a connection."

Vi stepped forward. "Well, if we want to save Giles we gotta go after him. Maybe it's like on Charmed, where vampires aren't really vampires until they've had their first kill? Vi stepped back as quickly as she stepped forward when she saw all the 'You should know better' faces. "Uh...or not."

"How did this even happen?" Xander asked the gang. "Maybe I can find out....like, will myself to have a vision?" Xander closed his eye and concentrated on Giles...his presence, his tweed suits, his British-ness ...everything that just screamed 'Giles.' It wasn't long before Xander saw the female Ubervamp tied up at the school, just looking at Giles. Whoa.

Xander swallowed. "Female Ubervamp...but, wowzers. She just looked at him."

Buffy shook her head. "So they can turn people into vampires by looking at them? Nice, really - but I don't wanna know the how. I wanna know the why. Everything has to happen for a reason, right?" She pulled a strand of hair and yanked it out of frustration. She looked down at the piece of hair in disgust and let it slip out of her fingertips.

Jeff kept staring at Xander while praying. "Reasons ...don't matter anymore. Only love."

"Uh...well you're right in theory." Xander looked back down at Jeff. "And who are you again?" Before Jeff could answer, he pointed to Amy. "And what's her deal, she's obviously..." He remembered back to what Anya had said. "Oh Buffy, you didn't!"

Buffy nodded. "I had to Xand. Besides, she's not a threat to anybody anymore." Buffy looked around at all the chaos. "Okay, we still have to figure out what's up with me and Xander, but I can't just leave Giles alone out there. I know, it's not really him but I-"

Dawn smiled, giving her sister a half-hug. "It's okay, Buffy. You don't have to explain yourself."

Faith spoke up. "Guess it's time to split up then." She just wanted to get this whole good guy thing over with so she could go get some much-needed partying done.

Buffy nodded. "Okay, I want Anya, Andrew and Vi to go back in the school and do some research about what's going on. Find out anything you can about my new powers, what the hell happened to Xander. What's going on with Jeff...ANYTHING." She turned to Xander and Faith. "I want you two to bring Giles back and tie him up. Xander gave an 'I told you so' look to Spike while sticking out his tongue. "Uh, and bring Jeff along too...not that you have much of a choice." Buffy made an 'Ew' face as Jeff continued to kiss Xander's sneakers.

"Okay....so that leaves me, Spike and Amy to go to Willie's. There should still be some of the less-friendly demons left there." Dawn just looked at Buffy, obviously hurt, but the slayer was too caught up in her speech to pay any attention. "Amy is nothing more than an extra burden right now, but I can't just leave her alone. I'm the one that did this to her. I have to protect her."

Amy simply stared out in space like a deer caught in headlights. She insecurely draped a strand of hair over her face. "T-thank you. For saving me."

Buffy shook her head at that. "I'm saving myself Amy." She then looked back at Dawn, who kept giving her the evil eye. "Oh Dawnie! I'm sorry- I. I didn't mean to, I mean. There's just so many people here and well..."

Dawn rolled her eyes. "Yeah, whatever. I'll just go with Xander and Faith."

Buffy nodded. She looked at Xander and Anya. "As soon as you two are done with your missions, go back to my house. We'll all meet up there and share any information we may have gathered." She looked at the bleached blonde vampire. "Come on Spike." Amy submissively followed Spike and Buffy without any direction.

The three parties left the parking lot in opposite directions, each wondering where this whole situation will take them next.

**NEXT CHAPTER: What's up with Spike?**


	5. What's up with Spike?

**What's up with Spike?**

Buffy and Spike walked in silence together, with Amy following close behind. Amy seemed to be in her own little world, so the duo ignored her the whole way to Willie's.

"You're right" Buffy finally said to the vampire, breaking the silence.

Spike turned around with an arched brow. He noticed Buffy was serious, so he tried his best to stifle the sarcastic remark that wanted to eagerly escape out his lips.

Buffy paused like she wasn't going to open up, but then went on. "About the scythe... you were right." She looked down at the weapon she was carrying. "It is just a weapon. You know, I used to tell Dawn all the time that weapons aren't the power, but I put so much trust in this thing. I thought it would be like in one of Andrew's Final Fantasy games, where you find Excalibur and save the day. I really believed that."

Spike eyeballed the slayer, not sure where Buffy was going with this. He was more curious as to how Buffy knew that about Andrew. "Well, not like it was hard to figure out from what you told me about the Guardians." He coughed. "Seemed like a bunch of self-righteous broads with stakes up their asses."

Buffy nodded. "They weren't even Guardians. Guardians are supposed to protect, not hide." She sighed. "I think Faith was right. Nine times out of ten, people...human people. They just want to look good for you. They don't care about being real."

Spike nodded, patting his leather coat for a sig. It was empty. Then, while they passed under a street light, he saw Buffy's glowing face along with her determination that just couldn't quit no matter what she was feeling. The scene might even be the most romantic he would ever get with the slayer. "You know pet, you're kind of sexy when you're all philosophical" Spike said, placing a hand on Buffy's shoulder while they walked through the barren streets of Sunnydale. He started to remember about the time when he tried to rape her, so he quickly removed said hand and turned the other way. "Soul says that's out of line" he murmured.

Buffy looked down and pointed at his crotch. "But that says 'I don't care?' Yeah, that's the hard part of being a man Spike." A beat. "With emphasis on the hard." She laughed with the souled vampire. "No, no. It's okay. You shouldn't have to walk on eggshells around me. I never meant to pussy whip you or anything, but the most important thing? You shouldn't even feel bad that you tried to rape me." Spike gave her a shocked look, but Buffy just shrugged. "You being all guilty and Vampire: The Masquerade-ish won't win this war" she reminded him.

Spike wondered if Buffy's reaction to him was just her juiced up slayer powers talking. But he also didn't give a damn. The slayer looked hot and all he wanted at the moment was to shag her brains out. Spike gave Buffy the once-over. "You look tired love. I say we both get some rest and visit the bloke later."

The slayer stretched and yawn. It was true, she WAS tired- but there was just so much to do and she had so much on her mind. She didn't think she'd be able to sleep. "I guess we could try to rest" Buffy finally agreed. She then noticed the burning lust in Spike's eyes and knew where he was going with this. The slayer felt her own libido rise and she just wanted to reach out and touch his firm body, to feel her skin collide with his so she could at least FEEL like she was whole again. She was about to, but then remembered their third wheel. Amy. Buffy spun around to double-check on the witch.

"Oh shit!" Buffy said while smacking her forehead. Amy was gone.

* * *

The town almost looked peaceful to Dawn as she walked in back of the group. Almost. It still had a tangy feeling of death everywhere, despite the fact that most everyone human had already skedaddled. Dawn noticed the sign of the Bronze and how it was a little brighter than before. It was then she realized they were circling the same street, but it also meant the sun was rising. Wherever Giles was now, he wouldn't be outside.

"Uh guys?" Dawn called out, trying to catch up to her allies. "Maybe it would make better sense to check INSIDE the Bronze. I mean, hello?" She pointed up at the sky.

Xander blinked while looking up at the orange sky. They had survived another day of the First's shenanigans. Well, most of them at least. Another realization hit Xander. He hadn't had any sleep for two nights. The poor carpenter yawned and looked over at his three party members who looked like they too could use a nap.

Faith shook her head, knowing what Xander was about to ask. "We'll sleep later, after we find Giles. Not really in the mood for another one of Buffy's speeches."

Dawn shrugged. "She'll probably give one anyway, no matter what we do."

Suddenly, Jeff started intimately rubbing Xander's arm, something he was very uncomfortable with. Not that Xander was homophobic or anything, it's just well - Jeff just wasn't his type. He grabbed Jeff's fingers and pushed his arm down. "Hey, cut that out! I'm a potentially married man."

Jeff quickly backed off. "I'm...sorry sir. It's just that when you're THIS close to the presence of pure greatness, you can't help but worship." His starry orbs blinked as he gazed back into Xander's eye.

"What am I, exactly!" Xander demanded. He looked at Jeff, then Dawn. "Am I turning into some Hell God? 'Cause gotta say, not liking the whole male Glory thing."

Faith just stormed the other way. "We gotta find Giles" she barked without turning around to face the group. She approached the building in front of her and soon noticed that the doors to the Bronze were locked. Thinking she was still a slayer for a split second, Faith raised her leg and tried to kick the door down. She was then promptly knocked back down from the force of the blow. "Oh....right" Faith said as Xander and Dawn helped her back on two feet.

Jeff stepped up to the door. "Here, allow me." He easily punched the double doors open.

It was at that moment when Faith noticed one of Jeff's tattoos, the univeral symbol for 'Power' like the on/off button found on new age television remotes. "How appropriate" she quipped as the four entered the Bronze, checking around corners to see if the vamped watcher would leap out and attack.

After looking around the room awhile and finding nothing, Xander wondered why he wasn't getting any visions. It was probably because he hadn't really been thinking about Giles, and that's when his visions appeared to trigger. When he thought deeply about stuff. The same thing happened in his first vision, when he wondered if it was possible to save the day with the sycthe again. Xander concentrated and saw Giles in a basement. He was feeding off the flesh of a helpless girl.

"The basement!" Xander cried out while he frantically searched for some steps. He looked over at everyone else, who started to laugh slightly.

"Xander?" Dawn said. "The Bronze doesn't have a basement."

* * *

"I never knew Principal Wood kept references to the occult in the library like Mr. Giles had" Vi said while searching through the stacks. Andrew was off in his own little world, looking at some Dungeon and Dragons manuals.

"Well, his mother was a Slayer" Anya reminded as she scanned the books, picking out the ones that would actually be helpful to them. "Now, let's all shut up and do this."

* * *

"Amy!" Buffy repeatedly called out, retracing their steps to see if they could find any clues about the witch's whereabouts. Normally, she'd be worried about looking like a freak, what with the whole screaming somebody's name in the early morning thing, but the town was virtually empty. There was no reason to be embarrassed. She looked over at Spike, who was using his leather duster as a shield to block out the sun.

Spike didn't know how long he could stay flame-free. "Could we please get to some place less threatening to my kind?" the vampire asked impatiently.

For about five seconds, Buffy looked back and forth between the alley they were traveling through and Spike. She put her hand on her hair, feeling like she needed to pull out some strands again. "I guess. There's nothing we can do now."

Suddenly, a man in a gray suit materialized before them. "What now?" Buffy asked, thinking that this was one of The First's various incarnations. "By the way, that tie so doesn't go with that sports jacket."

The man just laughed. "I was told you'd be sassy. Anyhoo, I'm here to tell you there is no need to worry about Amy Madison." He adusted his tie then looked down at it for a few seconds.

Spike noticed the briefcase the man was carrying, along with the insigna 'W & H.' "Uh, Buffy..."

Buffy noticed it too, about a second before Spike told her. "Wolfram & Hart...."

"Precisely. Now there's no need to concern yourselves with the witch any longer. We have it under control." The man smiled. "You have other things to worry about. Trust me." And with that, the suit flashed out.

Buffy sighed in disgust. "This is just greeeeeat." She rubbed the top of her nose. "I-I can't think about anything right now. Let's just get some rest."

Spike nodded while gently putting his arm around the slayer. "My place then?"

Buffy shook her head. "No, my place. I think we both graduated from creepy crypt sex." She smiled and kissed his cheek.

* * *

The text in the pages began to blur as Anya read on. She was about to lay her head down and fall asleep like Vi and Andrew next to her, but a single line popped her awake. "Oh...my...God" Anya said. She re-read the passage a dozen times before hurrying to the phone and calling Dawn's cell.

* * *

The four stood in silence at the bronze, trying to figure out what to do. "Okay, so it's a basement somewhere else. A basement we haven't seen before. Yeah, that really helps!" Xander said, scolding his own power.

Dawn just stared blankly in space. "I-I just wish Willow was here to do a locator spell. I don't-" She was then cut off by her phone ringing. "Oh, Cellie!"

Faith arched a brow, crossing her arms while leaning on one of the Bronze's support beams. "You named your cell phone?"

Ignoring Faith's question, Dawn flipped open her cell phone and answered it. "Hello?" she greeted. "Oh Anya- hey! Oh you did? Awesome! I thought we were supposed to meet up later though. Oh, oh I see. Oh yeah, he's here." Dawn gave the phone to Xander.

"What's up babe?" Xander said. "So, you found a way to make Giles HUMAN again, not just bring back his soul? That's great!" He smiled at his comrades and gave them all a thumbs up. He then listened at how they were actually going to make this happen. More specifically, he. Xander couldn't believe his ears. "Are you in anyway kidding? Do you really think I'm going to do that?"

Dawn, Faith and Jeff curiously listened to Xander.

"I-I don't know hon" Xander continued. "I mean, that's a lot. Yeah, I was the one who wanted to save him but, Oy! That's just...wow. Can we talk about this later? I'll need time to think about it." As Anya raged on, not shutting up for a second- Xander clicked off the cell phone. "Uh, love you too!" he said after he hung up. He gave the phone back to Dawn.

The four just stood there in silence for what seemed like forever.

"Weelllll?" Dawn asked. "What happened? How do we save Giles?"

Xander started to nervously pace back and forth. He thought of something. "Uh, I have to go. Somewhere..."

Xander jogged out of the Bronze. Jeff tried to follow, but he pushed him back away.

Faith and Dawn just looked at each other. "Okaaaay" Dawn said. She yawned.

"Let's just go back to B's pad" Faith said. "We really need some sleep."

* * *

Buffy opened the door to her house. Spike followed close behind, throwing off his coat. "Finally!" he said. He look over at Buffy, who started to remove her sweater.

"Hmm, you sure want to get into the action right away, pet" Spike said as he hugged Buffy from behind.

Buffy just smiled. "No, Spike. I need to shower." She turned around. "Take off all your clothes" she told him. "I'll be ready for you when I get back."

Spike sighed. "Okay, but I've been waiting a long time for this. You know...when we both really want it." He smiled at her and they shared a soft kiss.

Buffy stroked his cheek. "I know, William. I know." She then walked upstairs.

Forty-five minutes had passed and Spike really wanted to follow Buffy to see what was taking so long. He was horny and he knew that she wanted it. But he couldn't follow her, considering that was the place where he tried to- No, he couldn't think about it. That was about power, this was different...it was different he kept telling himself.

Spike looked down at himself, fully naked and hard. Maybe if he wanked it a bit, that would ease some of his anxiety. He was about to, but then Buffy walked down the stairs in her night gown.

Her face looked red as she bit her lip. She noticed Spike standing there naked there and almost wanted to laugh, but couldn't. Instead, she just sighed and looked at him with hurt eyes. "Spike, I-"

Spike put his arms around her. "Are you worried that I'll hurt you again? I promise I won't. Not ever. You hear me?"

Buffy backed away, pulling Spike's arms off her. "No, it's not that." She looked at him. "I led you on, I know, but while I took a shower I couldn't help but think of the time you tried to do you-know-what and then..." She burst into tears. "Then I thought that you may be the last person I do it with and I don't want that to happen. I don't love you."

The vampire's jaw dropped. He really thought this was his chance with Buffy, but it was shattered right in front of him. Again. For like the millionth time. You'd think Spike would be used to it by now. "But...all those things you said. What the UGGGH..." He screamed like the chip was still in his head. "Oh Slayer, why must you play with my emotions so?" He shook his head, fighting every urge he had to slap the shit out of her.

Buffy just looked on. "Spike, I made a mistake. I didn't mean-"

Spike ignored Buffy as he got dressed. He thought he was his own man, but once again, Buffy managed to play with his mind. He went in her living room and grabbed the blanket that was on her coach so he wouldn't be flayed while walking back to his crypt.

Buffy opened her mouth, about to say something else, but it was too late. The door was slammed in her face. Buffy just looked on, watching Spike through her window. A sad song played in her head and it was then she realized she just needed to sleep. Wiping away tears, Buffy walked over to her couch.

* * *

Spike flipped through the channels, trying to find some choppy cable porn to get off to. It was a hobby that he had for awhile, ever since the city got back its power. "Just look at me" Spike said after he found nothing that turned him on. "Can't get a girl...no, no. Girl can't get _me_. I'm too good for those bitches." He took off his shirt then looked down at his tight body. "You hear me?" he said seductively while giving his nipples a little tweak. "They're too good for you."

Spike angrily threw the remote into his TV, breaking the screen with his vampire strength. His sudden rage was interrupted by a knock on his door. Spike turned around. "Go away!" he shouted. "I'm not gonna listen to any of your half-ass apologies."

Xander walked in. "Now, would I ever say sorry to you?" Xander snarked. "Just figured you'd need some company."

"Go away" Spike ordered again.

Xander just laughed. "Okay, is this the part where you tell me to Get out, get out, get out like the Dawnster?" Xander walked further into his crypt. "Not a bad place you got here. Could use a window or two, but not bad considering."

"You've been here before, you wanker" Spike said while Xander slowly circled in front of him.

The carpenter noticed Spike's shirt was off and he couldn't help but stare at his chest. He kept staring at Spike, feeling his heart beat faster.

Spike took notice to that. "See anything you like Harris?" Spike said. He spread open his legs, and grabbed his crotch through his jeans while licking his lips at Xander.

"Okay, that's just nasty!" Xander said, trying to ignore the rising blood in his own organ. It was like time had stood still for a few seconds before Xander leaped on top of Spike. He felt Spike's smooth chest under his finger tips as they slowly rubbed their way up and down his body. Caught up in the moment, Spike ripped Xander's shirt open and spat on his neck before lapping it up with his pointed tongue. Xander caressed Spike's hair and tilted his own head back with a moan, savoring the delicious wetness of the vampire's tongue invading his skin.

Spike then grabbed Xander by the ears, noticing that they would make good handles for an activity that they would no doubt be doing later. The vampire then violently pulled Xander's face toward his and the two interlocked their hungry tongues. "Fuck Harris..." Spike backhanded the chair out of the way and it went flying toward the wall while while he slammed Xander on the floor. He looked into Xander's eye, kissing him over and over again while taking off his belt. There was just no stopping it now. Xander and Spike were going to have sex.

**A few hours later....**

Fully naked, Spike woke up in a jolt. He looked over at Xander, who was snoring away peacefully. "Bloody hell" Spike said. He then noticed something. Something he hadn't noticed in over two centuries. His heartbeat.

**(Author's note: Due to Fan not allowing NC-17 rated fic, I couldn't go through with the sex scene as much as I wanted. My apologies to any Ho-Yay fans out there!)**


End file.
